Distrubution of Free Software games
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I've been thinking a lot about distribution of free software games. There are so many different GNU/Linux distributions out there, it seems a very difficult task to release a game with the label "works with GNU/Linux". If something is packaged for Trisquel, it won't work with Parabola, if something is packaged for Fedora, it won't work with Ubuntu, etc. You could publish the sourcecode exclusively, without a binary, but having to compile a huge program like a modern game is quite an extreme task. Many people would just fail at compiling it and be unable to play the game.
It seems easy enough if you just want to distribute it for no charge, give the source to the development teams and let them implement your game into the repos. But what if you want to sell your game? How does one program cross-platform GNU/Linux games, that work with all distributions at the same time?
I'm wondering if there is some product that already went that route and was made compatible for all distributions, even if it's not a game.
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There is the LSB and the fact most distributions are based off one of the bigger distributions. Since the cores remain the same there is usually no reason you can't install from the distribution from which your distribution is derived.
For instance Trisquel and Linux Mint users can install any packages from Ubuntu and there generally shouldn't be a problem.
I would classify most games under three systems:
Generic installs: This installer will work on any version of GNU/Linux, and should install and operate under any conditions.
The RPM version: This is used on distributions such as Red Hat, SUSE, and Mandriva, that use the RPM package management system.
The DEB version: This version will operate only on Debian distributions of Linux such as Ubuntu.
There may be a few variations of this like different versions for 64 and 32 bit systems.
The real issue to supporting multiple distributions comes down to there not being a system in place to collect donations, raise funds, or otherwise provide monies to the developers to live off. A lot of projects are not terribly well funded and survive off the existence of large corporations. These corporations may not really care all that much about any particular distribution.
Ideally there would be more people working on developing start ups with free software compatible business models and working with non-profit projects to raise funds. A few successful projects survive this way.
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LSB as in least significant bit? Sure you can install debian packages on
Ubuntu and Red Hat packages on Fedora, but there are still some limits to
this and you can't install Red Hat packages on Ubuntu and vice versa. If your
game would be big enough to need a DVD, it would mean using two DVDs instead
of one if you want to provide an installer for the .rpm croud AND the .deb
croud. And I'm not even mentioning the rest.
That's why the generic installer approach sounds the best to me, but I'm
afraid it would not work out equally well on all platforms. Have you heard
about any program that used that approach and didn't show compatibility
issues?
Funding is of course very important, I wonder how free software games would
do side by side with proprietary games on the shelf. People treat proprietary
games almost as free software anyway. Copying and downloading illegal copies
is extremely common, so it seems one might just permit it without significant
impact on sales. Only way to more or less effectively protect the game from
being copied is to tie it to some online service like Steam. And only a small
percentage of all games are like that and the developers still make a living.
I think he means LSB as in Linux Standard Base.
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Correct. I was thinking I should have written that out. I forget people who haven't and aren't working on these things don't know these abbreviations.
Blender is an example of a free software that is distributed as a single
binary (for a given architecture) which works on most GNU distributions, and
is very easy to install. I think most people who frequently use Blender
install it via the binaries from the Blender's web site. That's because
Blender is developed very rapidly.
On a side note, Blender also comes with a game engine which can be used to
develop games relatively easy. A binary of a game done with Blender can also
be executed with ease on most GNU distributions.
You should try this for cross-distro installers
http://icculus.org/loki_setup/
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Awesome, that looks great! Will look into the loki setups for now.
I've been to http://www.playdeb.net where the majority seem to fall under a
free software license.
I am a translator!
LSB as in least significant bit? Sure you can install debian packages on Ubuntu and Red Hat packages on Fedora, but there are still some limits to this and you can't install Red Hat packages on Ubuntu and vice versa. If your game would be big enough to need a DVD, it would mean using two DVDs instead of one if you want to provide an installer for the .rpm croud AND the .deb croud. And I'm not even mentioning the rest.
That's why the generic installer approach sounds the best to me, but I'm afraid it would not work out equally well on all platforms. Have you heard about any program that used that approach and didn't show compatibility issues?
Funding is of course very important, I wonder how free software games would do side by side with proprietary games on the shelf. People treat proprietary games almost as free software anyway. Copying and downloading illegal copies is extremely common, so it seems one might just permit it without significant impact on sales. Only way to more or less effectively protect the game from being copied is to tie it to some online service like Steam. And only a small percentage of all games are like that and the developers still make a living.
alien is included in almost all GNU/Linux distributions (including Trisquel)
and aims at conversions between the different package formats. Of course it
does not always work and is never to be used with system packages (but games
are not among them).
I think he means LSB as in Linux Standard Base.
Blender is an example of a free software that is distributed as a single binary (for a each architecture) which works on most GNU distributions, and is very easy to install. I think most people who frequently use Blender install it via the binaries from the Blender's web site. That's because Blender is developed very rapidly.
On a side note, Blender also comes with a game engine which can be used to develop games relatively easy. A binary of a game done with Blender can also be executed with ease on most GNU distributions.
You should try this for cross-distro installers http://icculus.org/loki_setup/
I am a translator!
Awesome, that looks great! Will look into the loki setups for now.
I've been to http://www.playdeb.net where the majority seem to fall under a free software license.
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